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Supervisors pause vote on StarChase tracking policy amid Fourth Amendment, reliability questions
Summary
The Board continued an ordinance regulating police use of StarChase vehicle-tracking devices to March 24 after SFPD described pilot results and supervisors asked for technical and Fourth Amendment clarifications.
The Board of Supervisors voted March 10 to continue until March 24 consideration of an ordinance that would approve a police surveillance-technology policy for electronic location-tracking devices, commonly known as StarChase.
Supervisor Walton moved the continuance, citing concerns about warrantless tracking, data retention and reliability; Supervisor Chan said she needed more time to review Fourth Amendment implications and technology details. Carl Maseta, the Police Department’s government-affairs manager, described StarChase as a pursuit-mitigation tool deployed in a limited pilot: the department first used StarChase in December 2024, reported 22 deployments during calendar year 2025 and 17 successful tags, and operates the system under exigent-use limits and warrants when required. Maseta said the equipment is intended to reduce dangerous high-speed pursuits and that Oakland’s differing policy—requiring a warrant to track after tagging—hampered timely use there.
Supervisors expressed a desire for additional technical briefing and public explanation before a final vote. The board approved Walton’s motion to continue the item without objection.
